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George Ludwig was like, >In the digital age, what is your standard procedure, as an independent >artist, to "release an album"? Where do you send it for review? What >kind of promo kit do you put together? Do you bother having it physically >duplicated? Etc? This is one of my favorite musical discussion topics. As Zoe mentioned, I feel very strongly that an "album" is a carefully prepared, sculpted and intentional "artist statement". That collection of 10 or so songs will become your identity as an artist for everyone who doesn't personally know you. For that reason, it's important not to turn everything you've recorded into a cd release. It's better to critically listen to your own music, figure out what is the "cream of the crop", and find a way to turn it into a cohesive whole that's 40 to 60 minutes (not 80 minutes) long. During the entire process, you should be willing to cross out songs that are only 80% good, or songs that simply don't fit well with the others. Yes, this applies even if you make "non conformist" music. I personally dislike the idea of a cd as a "document of where the artist is at this year", or a collection of the most recent 60 minutes of music the artist has recorded. Over the course of your musical career, it's much better to release 4 cds that are 100% excellent than it is to release 14 cd's that are 70% good. Now, to answer George's actual questions: To my experience, most reviewers/blogs/radio stations don't pay much attention to a web-released cd unless there is an actual cd to go along with it. (Exceptions may apply if you're Radiohead or Nine Inch Nails.) Frankly I don't blame them - there are too many people who are into "release everything" when it comes to their music, and that tends to bring the changes down of finding a quality album. At least with a physical cd, you know that someone felt passionate about the music to invest some money into it. Also, if I was a reviewer, I'd probably be less likely to listen to anything that comes from CD Baby or any of those other sites that cater to people who are less serious about their cd releases. Many cd manufacturers are aware of the transitions to mp3, and are recently offering packages for runs of 500 cd's. (A few years ago, the minimum was 1000 discs.) When you have your cd's pressed, shrink wrap is usually a good thing, but don't get shrink wrap on any that you plan to send to reviewers/blogs/radio stations. All the radio DJ's I know personally tell me that they hate shrink wrap. (On the other hand, someone who buys your cd probably wants shrink wrap - to show that it's a new cd.) One-Sheets: One-sheets are the sheets of artist and cd info that accompany the cd. The one-sheet should include: --Artist name --CD name --A press-quality photo of the artist if you think it will work in your favor. If not, a picture of the cd artwork. (I did the latter.) --Record label --all track names --all track lengths in minutes:seconds --a symbol that denotes any tracks with language that shouldn't be played on the radio (or "tracks with fucks" as my dj friends call them) --a short bio paragraph about the artist --a short paragraph about the cd --(if applicable) one or two lines of "pull-quotes" - nice things that well-known reviewers said about you. --two or three "similar artists" Some important notes about your bio: It should focus on what makes your and your music unique and interesting. Use descriptive adjectives to describe your music, but DO NOT use self-promotional language like "Mind blowing", "the most" or "important" - it will just make you look big-headed. Those terms are great in your pull-quotes, if it's clear that you didn't write them to describe yourself. www.allmusic.com is the site that generates most of the cd "metadata" (track names, lengths, reviews and "similar artists") that winds up all over the internet. If you get your cd reviewed on allmusic, that review will appear on emusic and a slew of other spots on the internet. However, the important thing with allmusic is that the first cd you send to them is very important. The first cd I sent them wasn't that great. They gave it a 3/5 star review, and didn't review the "better" cd's I sent them afterwards. At some point, the "put out an actual cd" requirement will probably go away. I predict it will be within the next 2 or 3 years, but something else will probably take its place to make sure people aren't flooding the market place with willy-nillily released albums. Ok, I've gone on enough. Matt Davignon www.ribosomemusic.com